Media Coverage

Stephanie
Anzman-Frasca, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, is quoted
in articles about the benefits of continuing to offer healthy foods
to picky kids. “This method of simply repeating the
child’s exposure to healthy foods has a robust evidence base
behind it,” Anzman-Frasca said. “There are many studies
with preschoolers who start out not liking red peppers or squash,
for example, but after five to six sessions where these foods are
repeatedly offered, they end up liking them.” Anzman-Frasca
is the lead author of new research that reviewed more than 40
peer-reviewed studies on how infants and young children develop
preferences for healthy foods, especially vegetables and
fruits.

Sanjay
Sethi, MD, professor of medicine and
chief of the Division
of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, has led a trial
demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in lung
function for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The results show the improvement is “achieved by the
combination of aclidinium and formoterol compared to single
LAMA bronchodilators tiotropium and aclidinium, with
comparable safety,” he says.

An article detailing a study that shows that exercise can slow
the progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia quotes Bruce
R. Troen, MD, professor of medicine and
division chief of geriatrics
and palliative medicine. Troen suggested that while the
mechanism is unclear, exercise might help keep blood flowing to
areas of the brain restricted by dementia.

Jacobs School of Medicine and
Biomedical Sciences faculty members weighed in on how to stay
healthy in the new year in an article on resolutions. Anne
B. Curtis, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Charles and
Mary Bauer Professor and Chair of Medicine,
said: “If you find you have been too sedentary, figure out
when you can fit in 10 minutes of walking to start.” Priyanka
Patnaik, MD, medical director at UBMD Family Medicine at
Conventus and a clinical assistant professor of family
medicine, suggested taking an hour a day “to relax and
let go of all the stress of work, maybe spend some time meditating
or doing yoga.”

In a Q&A interview, Michael
E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the
Jacobs School of Medicine and
Biomedical Sciences, describes the years of planning for the new building
downtown and discusses the benefits to students, physicians,
researchers and patients. “Everyone who works at an academic
health center has to wake up every morning and say this is the
place where we want people to come to learn. This is the place
where new knowledge of some type is going to be created, and this
is the place, if any of us need a physician, where I want to go
because I'm not just getting standard of care but, if needed, have
the opportunity to participate in new directions for
treatment,” Cain said.

Robert
H. Ablove, MD, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics,
is quoted in a story about grants from UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports
Medicine to two community groups, including Hand
in Hand, which works to design and fabricate prosthetic hands
using 3-D printers and other tech tools. “When we heard about
the Hand in Hand program, it was a no-brainer. This is the sort of
initiative we want to be a part of,” Ablove said.

A new study led by Michal
K. Stachowiak, PhD, professor of pathology and
anatomical sciences, uses cerebral organoids, or mini-brains,
to understand the cause of schizophrenia. After growing the
mini-brains, the research group saw architectural difference in the
cortex: immature cells that would one day turn into neurons were
spreading out in too many directions with too much distance between
them. “I think for the first time we have a proper
experimental tool to try to see if we can either correct or prevent
some of these events,” he said.

Various local and national media outlets reported on the grand
opening of the new home of the Jacobs School of Medicine and
Biomedical Sciences on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. More
than 500 people attended the ceremony for the spectacular new
facility, including Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. “We’re
celebrating the grand opening of much more than a new building
today. This is the start of a new era for UB, for our medical
school and for this entire region,” said Michael
E. Cain, MD, vice president of health sciences and dean of the
medical school.

The first opiate intervention court in the country has been
operating since May 1 in Buffalo City Court. The new court is being
funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice
Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the treatment programs are under
the administration of Richard
D. Blondell, MD, professor of family
medicine, along with Horizon Health Services and the HOPE
Program.

UB’s Research
Institute on Addictions is leading a statewide program to train
medical professionals in high-need regions, including Erie and
Niagara counties, in providing medication-assisted treatment for
opioid addiction. “Once you get trained, it's not an easy
transition to getting your first patient. And, once you are
treating patients, you have to make sure they are monitored. That
can be difficult, especially if you are a single provider,”
said Kenneth
E. Leonard, PhD, RIA director and research professor of psychiatry.

An article on new 3D printing technology that allows surgeons to
print highly realistic, functionally accurate replicas of complex
anatomical structures quotes Adnan
Siddiqui, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of neurosurgery.
“We designed a series of models with varying levels of
tortuosity from the chest to the brain,” he said.
“It’s impossible to do in animals or in patients. 3D
printing makes it so easy to do that in a smooth, streamlined
fashion.”

Michael
G. Dwyer, III, PhD, assistant professor of neurology
and biomedical
informatics, was interviewed about a group of Americans and
Canadians in Cuba who in September suffered symptoms that included
hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues and
difficulty sleeping, which prompted concerns their symptoms were
caused by a neural toxin. Dwyer said the brain is made up of gray
matter and white matter. “The gray matter is kind of like the
actual computational units, the neuronal cell bodies,” he
said. “The white matter is the wiring closet of the brain,
composed almost entirely of axons that helps connect different
parts of the brain.”

An article about meditation goggles being marketed by meditation
guru Deepak Chopra that are supposed to guide users into a
heightened state of meditation interviews James
D. Reynolds, MD, professor and chair of ophthalmology,
who said the goggles should be safe to use, but that he was
unconvinced that they would achieve the claimed benefits.
“Probably all placebo,” he said.